Kaléo has launched the “AUVI-Q Speaks Up” campaign to share patients’, caregivers’ and healthcare providers’ stories about life with severe allergies.
The company sells AUVI-Q, an epinephrine injection used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. Competing with Viatris’ EpiPen, Kaléo enhanced its product with voice instructions that guide users through each step of the epinephrine injection process. The autoinjector emits voice instructions when the user removes the outer piece of packaging.
Kaléo nodded to the feature with the name of its latest campaign—“AUVI-Q Speaks Up”—and by putting the device’s voice actor at the center of its communications. In a two-minute video, the voice of AUVI-Q, Melissa Chase, discusses the campaign and calls for people to share their stories.
To kick off the campaign, the company published Chase’s conversation with a mom raising three children with food allergies. The mom, Lisa, describes the first time her oldest child had an allergic reaction. Back then, Lisa didn’t know what to do and didn’t have an epinephrine injection. Being prescribed AUVI-Q gave Lisa “a sense of calm,” she told Chase.
Kaléo published the conversation alongside three earlier videos about the impact of food allergies on families. The campaign website features a form that people can use to submit their own stories, which Kaléo said it may use on the website and across materials related to the campaign. The company is also providing resources to help people affected by allergies.
“Having a plan, carrying two doses of epinephrine at all times and knowing how to use it in a high-stress situation can make a critical difference in helping families recognize what’s happening and respond right away,” Vivian Hernandez-Trujillo, M.D., a clinical professor of pediatrics at Florida International University in Miami and a Kaléo spokesperson, said in a statement.
Kaléo competes with multiple companies for the market. ARS Pharmaceuticals sells an epinephrine nasal spray, Neffy, while Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Viatris market injectable formulations of the allergy drug.